It was such a sweet thing to say and Rosa was touched. She wondered if most English girls were as warm and open as Alice.

‘Do you mind if I switch the television on?’ Alice asked.

‘Of course not.’

It was ten o’clock and they had already had sex, which had been just as good as the time before and the time before that.

Rosa had told Alice that she was due to attend a meeting at midday. But what she really planned to do was prepare for the next kill and the one after that.

She’d already checked out DI Laura Jefferson’s house in Balham, but she intended to have another look this afternoon before returning much later to carry out the execution. And Roy Slack had sent her details late last night of someone else he wanted taken out. The name wasn’t on his list but he’d stressed that he wanted the job done asap.

It wasn’t a big deal. Rosa had been given the target’s home address and fortunately it wasn’t far from where she was right now. So she would recce it after her visit to Balham.

The wall-mounted TV came on as Rosa pointed the remote at it. The first thing they saw was the outside of Marion Nash’s bookshop in Clapham. Then it cut to a photo of her with her detective husband.

After that there was a short clip of CCTV footage that showed a figure in a dark overcoat and baseball cap entering the shop. The reporter said that the person was believed to be the killer.

Rosa had to bite her bottom lip to keep from smiling. The sequence would be completely useless as far as the investigation went because she couldn’t possibly be identified from it.

‘I hope whoever that is rots in hell,’ Alice said. ‘If I could send him there myself I would.’

Rosa had already been to hell and back but she couldn’t tell Alice that. In fact she couldn’t tell Alice anything about herself. She could only lie. It was what she always did.

‘Will I see you tonight?’ Alice asked.

They were both dressed and ready to leave the apartment.

Rosa pouted her lips. ‘Are you sure you’re not fed up with me?’

Alice grinned. ‘What do you think?’

Rosa reached out and stroked Alice’s cheek.

‘I think we should make the most of these two weeks,’ she said. ‘And I want you to know that I’m having the time of my life.’

Alice was clearly delighted. She grabbed Rosa’s arm, pulled her close, and gave her a long, hard kiss on the mouth.

Rosa felt something stir inside her. It was a feeling she wasn’t accustomed to and she wasn’t even able to identify it.

Was it a genuine crush? Or perhaps a more subtle form of affection for a woman who made her heart race?